i io FORESTRY 



the wood is launched into the flood as quickly as possible. 

 By one or more of these rushes of water the material is 

 brought to its destination, where, with the aid of booms, its 

 onward course is intercepted. Booms (bars which extend 

 across stream) are erected at the collecting basin ; some forms 

 act by diverting the floating wood ; others, by stopping it 

 entirely. 



On the middle and lower reaches of rivers, and on canals 

 and lakes, the transport of long logs fastened together in the 

 form of rafts is very general. According to the character of 

 the waterway and the size of the timber, a number of logs 

 are fastened together into so-called raft sections. Each 

 section consists of six to ten logs as a rule ; where circum- 

 stances permit, several of these are coupled together, and may 

 form rafts of considerable length. 



Transport by Land. Roads within the forest area are 

 necessary for the carriage of produce, and for communication 

 through the woods. Nothing conduces more surely to the 

 economical management of a forest than an efficient system 

 of roads. A distinction may be drawn between roads which 

 are used only for the extraction of timber (and to facilitate 

 sport) and public roads which can be made use of by the 

 forest proprietor for timber transport. 



Apart from forest rides and paths, timber-slides, both 

 "dry" and "wet," sleepered sledge-roads, and forest tram- 

 ways have their particular merits. The means of transport 

 should always receive the most careful consideration, and all 

 aspects of the matter ought to be looked at before any decision 

 is made. Neglect is poor economy. 



For ordinary traffic the plain turf road frequently suffices ; 

 in its case, attention to drainage is the main consideration. 

 Where the ground tends to be wet a fairly firm track can be 

 made by laying short logs, poles or sleepers packed closely 

 together crosswise over the line of road. Such tracks are 

 known in some parts as corduroy roads. 



For the most precipitous places the so-called " wire- 

 tramway " is employed. It consists of a cable, or very 



